Variation in Scotland: The Linguistic Status of Scots Then and Now

Seminar paper from the year 2001 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics, grade: 2,3, Free University of Berlin, language: English, abstract: The linguistic status of Scots today is certainly best described as ambiguous. Scots is unique because it has a clearly defined history of its own and it has always possessed enough distinctive features to be very different from Standard English. Of all the varieties of English which have developed within the British Isles, there is none that created such controversy and still challenges even the best scholars. This paper tries to find out about the possibility of labelling Scots a language or a dialect. In addition to that, it takes a closer look at the linguistic features of Middle Scots and the situation of Scots today. Includes comprehensive sources for further reading and research.